Date: 6/21/26 7:05 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: [NFLbirds] Odd Duck
I was walking along a road at the Alford Greenway, this morning, when I noticed black cherries on the ground and looked up to see if any birds were feeding on the cherries.
There was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck sitting in the cherry tree.
This tree was on the Northern edge of a large field. Lake Piney Z, where any self-respecting whistling duck would be feeding, was about a quarter mile to the South. The closely related West Indian Whistling Duck eats a lot of tree fruit and I found one reference to BBWDs eating tree fruit in South America, but every other reference that I find has them foraging for seeds in marshes and agricultural fields, which is where I typically see them feeding.
I watched this duck for twenty minutes and it did not try to feed on the ripe black cherries. However, I often find that birds are reticent to feed after they have been noticed and I had been twenty feet from this bird when I first noticed it. BBWDs are cavity nesters, but this tree was not big enough for a cavity and it was a long way from the water.
Has anybody ever noticed BBWDs eating tree fruits?
